(New Buffalo, MI) - The Red Arrow Raiders fell 4-2 in a game dominated by defense on Friday, September 29th.

 

The Raiders, consisting of players from both New Buffalo and River Valley high schools, lost on the road to the Twin City Sharks 18-8.

 

The offensive struggles for the Raiders came as a surprise, considering the team scored 252 points combined in their previous efforts.

 

However, the troubles moving the ball could be explained, at least partially, via losing quarterback Ethan Lijewski midway through the second quarter due to a pulled groin muscle. Lijewski completed just one pass out of five attempts for three yards prior to leaving the game.

 

His replacement, Ryder Wolnik, had just five yards passing on one completed pass out of ten attempts.

 

The Sharks also stopped the Raiders’ potent running attack by holding Lijewski to just 41 yards on nine carries. It took 14 carries for Wolnik to pick up 60 yards on the ground, while Owen Slavens and M’Nason Smothers combined for 136 yards on 23 carries.

 

It was the first game back for Wolnik following a knee injury that left him out of play for four weeks.

 

The only touchdown for the Raiders came from an 80-yard drive early in the third quarter to pull to within 12-8.

 

Scores for the teams stagnated until the Stars, with 19 seconds left on the clock, scored from a long gain on a rushing play.

 

Head Coach Matt Johnson said he felt the offense should have scored more points, but had trouble multiple times putting the ball into the end zone once inside the 20-yard line of the Sharks.

 

“We had some more red zone opportunities but couldn't capitalize.  Credit to Twin City for a good game plan and playing with a sense of urgency,” he said.

 

Johnson blamed the loss on giving up big plays from missed tackles and blown pass coverage, along with confusion on offense by the different looks the Stars presented on defense.

 

On defense, the Stars were able to commit more players to stop the run after Lijewski and his talented passing arm left the game.  

 

“We just had mental breakdowns on two plays.  That’s how they got their 12 points. We just didn’t play a good game all around,” he said.

 

Wolnik led the defense with seven tackles, four of which resulted in yardage loss. Payton Lijewski had six tackles while David Nicely had five tackles, including one for lost yardage.

 

Wolnik and Nicely each had one sack, while Jordan Serrano had an interception.

 

The Twin City Stars, composed of players from Our Lady of the Lake, Michigan Lutheran, and Countryside Academy, were limited to 112 yards passing from four completions on 18 attempts along with 175 yards rushing on 24 carries.